Ros Story
by Tallest Purple
Summary: How can an Irken say 'I love you' if it can't love? Can a human be forgiven after doing something unspeakable? One girl holds all the answers.
1. Book One, Chapter One

Umm… Hey, everyone! I posted this story on Gir's Board many, many moons ago. It was somewhat of a hit, but I never finished it. I decided to go ahead and tie up all the loose ends of this fic before I go to college.

Eh, this story contains a lot of language, death, and spirituality (at least as close as you can get to spirituality concerning Invader Zim). Don't read it if you don't want to, reviews and criticism are welcome, but I'm already on page about page 200 on this, so don't come up with any plot-changing ideas.

This story is split up into four different books. Book One is about the main character, Ros, and her life on Irk and on Earth. Book Two is about Ros' life after Earth and Zim's quest to get her back home to Earth. Book Three continues Zim, Ros, and Dib's lives after all of them are returned to Earth and explores Ros' past. Book Four is the last part, where it explores life and death, along with a further battle between heaven and hell. It's a very in-depth fic… Serious in some parts, playful in others…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. It belongs to Jhonen, yo!

Ros Story--

Most would be individualists, but not Ros. Even her name was average. In her graduating class there were 1563 girls who had the name Ros. And 47 who spelt it Roz. The small Irken marched down the busy streets of Relativia, the housing planet. She lived in a small apartment by herself. Her job was mediocre, so was her life. She made her way to her acceptingly average purple and lavender voot cruiser so she could go to a job interview. The poor Irken blended in so much that you couldn't tell her apart from most of the other Irkens. Ros knew inside that she was a different Irken with her own thoughts and actions, but it's hard to make others notice. She got into her voot cruiser and pressed various buttons to make it start. It wouldn't. She growled irritatingly. Ros hopped out and checked the engine. Cruiser mechanics were something that she picked up on a long time ago. Some plug became loose that she forced back into its socket. The motor suddenly started to churn. She smiled and ran back in her cruiser. That ought to hold it until she got to her job interview. Ros was trying to get a job as a BEUS, or Beat Em Up Squad. She was pretty forceful if she wanted to be. She flied to a different planet that didn't have a name quite yet, but was to the home the Beat Em Up Squad registration center. She walked in the large building that was placed in the middle of the miniscule planet. She walked into the lobby that was large and elaborately designed. There was desk more towards the right and Ros walked up to the secretary.

"Is this where the BEUS registration is being held?" she asked. The secretary looked down at Ros and gave her a strange look.

"Fifth floor," she said sternly. Ros sighed and went up the elevator. It made five small tones and then the door opened. She was nearly shocked to see a room full of men staring at her. She cautiously stepped through the room and to the desk at the far end. The Irken at the desk had his face buried in a pile of paperwork, but he seemed to know she was there.

"Number?" he asked.

"K-13-1086," she answered. The guy wrote it down on another sheet of paper.

"Name?" he asked again.

"Ros," she replied silently. The man lifted his head and looked down at her.

"You're a girl," he said in amazement.

"Yes, I am," Ros answered. She could sense what was about to happen.

"Are aware that this is mostly a male-oriented job?" he asked with a questioning look.

"I'm aware of that, but does it really matter?" she asked back.

"I suppose not, go on ahead into the training room," he sighed, slowly shaking his head.

"What? I've been waiting over an hour to go into the training room!" one of the guys shouted.

"Hey, hey, hey!" another yelled, "Ladies first, remember?" Ros growled silently and walked through. The next room was virtually empty. There was a guy operating the computer booth.

"Can I help you, young lady?" he asked.

"I'm Ros. I'm here for the Beat Em Up Squad," she hissed. Ros didn't even wait for him to reply and stepped into a small booth. It was white with lots of grid lines. She stared wickedly at the man at the booth. He quickly started to press buttons that made the white walls blur into a space background. Pallid stars dotted the room. She was lifted off the ground by the anti-gravity sensors. Soon, a Meekrob appeared before her ready to fight. She growled and threw a punch at the smaller alien. It flew off in the opposite direction and soon out of sight.

"Too easy," she said to herself. She floated in other directions looking for another alien, but one never came. Soon, the sky disappeared and she fell on the ground. "Hey, what happened?" she asked angrily.

"That's it," the man at the control booth answered.

"That's _all_?" she asked. "That was nothing!"

"Sorry, but that's as far as we go with girls," he sighed. Ros had never felt so angry before in her life. "Don't call us, we'll call you." She nearly screamed as she stormed out through the door into the waiting room. The guys looked up at her without words. It was a good thing, too, because Ros would have probably punched them if they uttered a singly syllable. After going down the elevator and through the lobby again, she made it back to her voot cruiser. She was planning to get that job today she didn't make plans for anything else the rest of the morning, much less evening.

"What am I going to do?" she cried. She leaned on the side of her cruiser and sobbed.

"Are you alright?" someone asked.

Ros looked up. A bright red sun blocked most of the mystery Irken's face except his eyes. There were a deep red, not maroon or pink like most others.

"I'm just fine," Ros sniffed.

"I'm not one to judge, but you don't look fine," he answered. Ros quickly shot an angry look at him. "Sorry, didn't mean anything by it." He sat down against the voot cruiser next to her. This was when she finally got a good look at him. He was wearing a black shirt, tight black pants, wide gloves with buckles, and boots with zippers all over them. He seemed so foreign, like no Irken she had ever seen before.

"I like your outfit," she laughed over her tears.

"Thanks. I like it, too," he sighed. "What's your name?"

"Ros," she answered.

"Jak," he replied. He held out his hand casually, and she took it into her own and shook. He had an average name just like she did. "I hope you weren't just joking about my clothes earlier."

"No, not at all! It's unique. I know I'd never have the guts to dress like that," she sighed.

"What makes you so sure? I think you'd look hot dressed as a punk," he laughed. He seemed so much nicer than the stereotype that she had heard so many other Irkens proclaim.

"Are you hitting on me?" she giggled.

"It was worth a shot," he grunted as he got up from the ground. He looked at her cruiser. "Woah, this is a nice voot!"

"You must be kidding. It hardly runs!"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I can get some of my buddies at the shop to give you a special rebate," he said, winking at her. Ros couldn't help be feel a slight, deep green blush creep up her cheeks. She turned her head quickly and coughed.

"Thanks," she said softly, rubbing her antenna. He continued looking at her cruiser, rubbing the engines and whistling.

"This must be an old job. A classic!" he commented. There was a small moment where nothing was spoken. Ros felt in the pit of her squeedily spooch a nervousness with each passing second. The moment was harshly interrupted when a loud beeping came out from the boy's PAK. He seemed to cringe at the sound. "Dammit, it's her again," he sighed, walking away from her voot cruiser. "Keep in touch, okay? Meet me here tomorrow, same time." She turned to ask him where to meet again, but he was gone.

On the ride home, Ros couldn't help but think about what had happened. It was so strange that a guy would actually see something in her. She made it back to Relativia without much traffic. After one minute of stepping into her horribly maroon and pink room, she ran out of the room and down the street. She had remembered seeing in a local shopping center a store that sold things like Jak was wearing. She finally found it. It was a store called "Club Q." She stepped in. She had never been in there before, but she loved it. After making several trips around the shop picked out a pair of gloves with a big silver buckle on it, bigger boots with rubber grips under them, and a new, darker maroon shirt with a black circle in the middle. At the register, she saw a little box with a girl Irken on it.

"What are these?" she asked to cashier.

"Those are antennae extensions. The best ones you can do at home that monies can buy!" he answered.

"Great! I'll take them!" She put the box with the other accessories that were then transferred to a bag. She happily skipped out the store and back to her apartment. She tried on her new clothes and they looked great on her. "Jak was right," she thought out loud, "I do look hot like this." She spun around the room in happiness and landed on her bed. After lying there for several minutes, she fell asleep.

Jak walked into a dark room. Really dark. It was strange, since the room was usually well lit and busy with daily activity. He held his hand out in front of him and saw nothing. Knowing his was around the room well enough, he made his through the darkness and up to a pair of bright green eyes that stood out in the dark.

"Jak!" a woman's voice bellowed. "You were not at Tallest Training today. What is your excuse?"

"I'm sorry, my Tallest, but I had to stop at the BEUS station to get a check up on how the new recruits are doing," he answered.

"And?" she asked him to continue. Somehow, his current Tallest seemed to know that there was more to his story.

"And I met a girl in the parking lot that looked like she was going through some sort of crisis. I thought that I would calm her down so it took me longer than expected to leave." The Tallest sighed heavily and a few rustles were heard. She stepped into the light revealing a very old and extremely weak Almighty Tallest Miyuki.

"Jak, you need to understand the conditions we're under," she sighed.

"Miyuki, you shouldn't be up!" Jak warned.

"Don't worry about me," she reassured. "Now Jak, you are the best Tallest trainee that this race has to offer. Not only does the way you dress teeter what others think, but your entire attitude towards your job makes you seem not worthy for the career as ruler of the empire!"

"Then why do you think I'm so great to become a Tallest? I never asked to be a trainee in the first place!"

"I find trust in you, and I know you will lead us to victory for universal domination," she gasped. Her breathing became raspy and hoarse.

"Miyuki! Are alright?" he shouted. The horribly thin Irken began to waver. "MIYUKI!" he screamed. He ran over to her as she was beginning to fall and caught her.

"Jak," she gasped, "do what your heart follows. Become a Tallest. Do it for me."

"My Tallest…" he cried softly. He laid her gently on the floor and ran out of her old thrown room.

-------  
That's it for chapter one. Tell me you think, I'd like that...


	2. Book One, Chapter Two

Kinda short chapter today, guys. Sorry 'bout that. I'm sorry if there are some spelling and grammar mistakes in this story. I started this summer of my Junior year, most of the time staying up in the ungodly hours of the morning typing whenever inspiration struck. So, being delirious and sleepy, words were typed but not comprehended. I reread the whole thing before posting it again, but even then I see I still miss some things. Feel free to reply…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Invader Zim. Someone else does…

Ros Story—

Ros woke up to the ceiling the next morning. She yawned and looked at the clock.

"TEN!" she shouted. She was running late. At least, late to try to find Jak again. She ran out to her cruiser and jumped in. "Please start again!" she cried, sending a secret prayer. The cruiser started with a grinding twist and she shouted with joy. She soon took off and went to the BEUS planet. On they way, she ignored all signs that were placed on the stable asteroids. She finally made it and parked in the exact same place in the back of the lot that she was yesterday. Ros sat next to her voot cruiser like before, and waited.

And waited and waited and waited.

Almost three hours passed when Ros dosed next to her cruiser and woke up with a start. She was left with nothing but a horrible sunburn.

"I think I've been stood up," she growled. She marched into her cruiser and sat in it for a while. A small green light flashed on the dashboard. She pressed it and a data board popped up.

Sender: TALLESTRP

Receiver: K-13-1086

This was odd. She had never gotten a message a TALLESTRP. She had received tons from TALLESTM whenever important Tallest related things were going on. She pressed the words on the screen and a message popped up.

Message: Be sure to watch channel 421 at 6 this afternoon for an important live announcement!

That was it. There wasn't a formal signature or anything. Ros sighed and shoved the data board back in its slot. She was not in a good mood. It was one and past lunch time. She took off and decided to go to Foodcourtia. As much as she hated food courts, it was the closest planet with food.

"Why should I change my name? He's the one who sucks!" Jak hollered to a small secretary Irken. He jumped in surprise and hid behind a portable data pad.

"I'm s-s-sorry s-sir! But desperate times cause for d-d-desperate measures! The death of Tallest Miyuki was h-highly unexpected and we d-d-d-definitely not expecting this to happen!" he cried. Jak stood in a red tallest uniform with black decals. Another Irken sat in a chair with his feet up on a table. He was wearing a purple uniform with darker purple decals.

"You think I wanted this, too?" he asked. "I like my name."

"I'm sorry, sirs," the small Irken cried, "but there can't be two Almighty Tallest Jak's." Jak, the original one, sighed irritatingly.

"So I have to be named Purple?" the other Irken asked. "That name sounds so stupid!"

"Quit whining!" Jak rebounded. "They didn't give purple eyes so you would like it! It scars me enough!" 'Purple' looked at him angrily.

"Why you little…" he yelled while throwing a punch at Jak's face. He didn't miss. And that's how the fight began. Jak fell to the ground, but instantly popped right back up. He performed a high jump kick aimed right in his gullet. Purple was able to dodge that, but Jak's arm was sticking out and it punched him in the stomach. When Purple fell, however, his leg had some sort of spasm knocking Red off course and they both landed flat on their backs.

"This sucks," Jak sighed.

"Dead on," Purple agreed.

Ros sat at an empty Foodcourtia booth with a chili-vortdog. She munched on it diligently for a few minutes. How she hated food courts… It's almost like more than words can say. She didn't know anybody. She meant this literally. She had no friends. Ros had many acquaintances, but no friends. Unless if you would call Jak a friend, then maybe she had one. She threw her vortdog on the table and went back to her cruiser. Went back to her apartment, which was a disappointment because she lived a couple of hours away from her home. It was about four, so she wouldn't get back until six.

Finally, Ros got back to her apartment in one piece, and five minutes early, too! She plopped on her bed and turned on the television. She lived in a one room apartment. Her bed crossed as a couch. She had a kitchen in the left next to the door. Just a sink, counter, and stove. She didn't have the money to buy a microwave or refrigerator, which is why she almost always ate out, anyway. The walls were a light pink. Her bed was a darker maroon. Everything was in some shade of red.

She turned on the TV. She liked to watch anything with a laugh track. It made her feel better for some odd reason. Fortunately, she was able to find something.

"Welcome to 'Three Irkens and a Smeet!' One tonight's show, Ray finds out the true meaning of what having a smeet means!" the TV announcer shouted.

"Sounds… interesting…" Ros sighed. She rubbed her eyes and lied down. She was resting peacefully until her laugh track was interrupted by a beeping sound. "What the?" she looked up and saw a different screen on her monitor. It read 'INCOMING IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.' She sighed and plopped back down.

"Today we mark the death of Almighty Tallest Miyuki," a somber voice announced. That caught Ros's attention and she instantly popped up.

"DEAD?" she cried.

"Yes, I know it's hard to believe," the Irken on the screen continued. "Thankfully, however, we have two new Almighty Tallest lined up that have been secretly in training in preparation for such an occasion. Amazingly, they both are the same height and both have the same name. This is the first time that this has ever happened in Almighty Tallest history."

"C'mon! Who are they?" Ros asked in anticipation.

"They have been dubbed the names 'Red' and 'Purple' in order to cure confusion." The screen moved over to two very peeved Jaks. Ros's mouth dropped wide open. "Both of their names were originally 'Jak.'"

"That's Jak! MY Jak!" Ros shouted.

The crowd was booming. Red and Purple were trying their best to smile, but it was hard.

"So, what's your story?" Red asked, trying to smile.

"I was a fleet commander," he replied, trying just as hard to grit his teeth. "My squad was about to make it big time, but I got a call to come to a Tallest training. I never saw anyone again… What about you?"

"I was average. I got my own personal style with my clothes about 75 years ago. Like you, I got a message and had to go. I never saw any of my friends again. I did meet this one chick, though…"

"Do tell," Purple edged on, a true, interested smirk crawling across his face.

"I think her name was Ros, not much of a talker. Certainly something else. I'll probably never see her again now, though."

"I think I heard about her. Someone said that you met her in a parking lot."

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"She's trailer trash! You don't wanna hook up with someone like that. There will most likely be a girl higher up on the caste system for you."

"Caste system? I didn't know we had a caste system." Red quit smiling and stared intently at Purple.

heehee… I guess it's really easy to see that Red wasn't the smartest one in the bunch. I mean, he knows about height difference and all that, but I guess he never really knew how much power he truly possessed until now.

Read and Reply! Make my day happy!

-Pur


	3. Book One, Chapter Three

Hello Everyone!

I decided it's time for a little Tallest Purple history time. I didn't start liking Zim until mid-freshman year. I saw it one TV, though it would be a cool character to learn how to draw, and went online to find pictures. That's when I found out it was cancelled. That's when I became obsessed. I guess it just happened like that. I kinda reached a dead period for about a year, but reached my second wind my senior year. I'm sure you're all very bored reading me going on like this… Like mentioned earlier, I started this fic summer of sophomore year. Most of the things written in here have bad grammar and difficult to make to sense… (you can imagine how hard it was trying to get started writing it again). Hopefully, it'll get better as I grow up.  
I write all of my fanfics with little or no idea of what will happen. This one just happened to work for me. As for Ros and this… Mary Sue person… I'm a hypocrite, and don't read fanfics with fan characters in them much at all (although I write them). So, I'm guessing this Mary Sue means generic and has no personality? Or maybe her personality changes a lot and has no structure? Ros was my first fan character I ever made. I wish I could post it, because it's crap, and I want people to read it. Ros was bland and all the characters were OOC. In my opinion, Ros is someone like me (her name, actually, is based off of the character Roz from Frasier. I was watching it when I was writing my first fanfic and really needed to come up with a good girl name that sounded different. I spelt it wrong, though, but I think it's fine.) She's aggressive, smart, spiteful, but still manages to me nice… to a point…

Anyway, enough of my babbling about stuff you don't care about. On with another short chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. I guess I kinda own Ros and any other character you know doesn't come up in the series…

Ros Story--

"You know, a caste system. Please tell me that you had proper education in government economics," Purple sighed. He quit waving and looked at Red.

"Don't give me that look, of course I have," Red snapped, returning the glare. "I just don't see why talking to her was… _bad_…"

"It's just frowned upon," his new partner grumbled, looking back at the large crowd and continued to wave. "We're Tallests, now. We don't associate to people shorter than us of our own will."

"Where did you get this bull?" Red guffawed, trying to take his angry look away and make the Irkens happy by waving. His arm was beginning to hurt.

"Let's just drop it," Purple said, being stopped by a guide who led them off the stage. As soon as they were backstage, the two were hounded by secretaries, planners, bodyguards, groupies, and officials. "Your memory will be wiped of her soon enough."

---

"I knew he couldn't be trusted!" Ros yelled. She threw off her shirt, boots and gloves and shoved them in the back of her closet. "You met him in a parking lot! It's not like he was suppose to be perfect for you in a five minute conversation!" she shouted at herself. "Alright, from now on there will be no more thinking of Jak, or Red, for the rest of eternity, got it?" she asked her ego. She grabbed her old clothes from a hanger and quickly changed. Ros turned off the television. "Tomorrow, I'm going to get a job and just forget this ever happened!" She nodded and self reassured herself.

---

Memory wiping. How could he be so DENSE? Red slapped himself in the head. He was alone in his bedroom, his first few minutes of rest before he had to go to another meeting. His morning had been nothing but shows, meetings, social events, talking with allies… This wasn't his place at all. Purple assured him that once his PAK was replaced with the proper information to be a Tallest, everything would be downhill. But still, was it really worth memory wiping?

Being an apprentice to a Tallest was like a death sentence. Sure, it was an honor, a prestige. However, there were little benefits, except for the fact that you would probably be the next Tallest. Other than that, his days were usually filled with the same boring chores. Get Miyuki a drink. Get her dinner. Run her errands. Deliver her messages. It was all really boring.

He was glad he ran into some downtime to even talk to anybody who wasn't directly associated to the empire. Ros. Red rolled over on his bed again. He was acting like an angsty teenager. Still, in their three minutes of conversation, he felt something. Something that Irkens, as he was told in the books, weren't supposed to feel.

It didn't matter, anyways. He was thinking too much. This girl would soon be forgotten as soon as his memory was wiped. Red sat up, looking at his surroundings. His bedroom was probably the size of a large apartment complex, with curtains, carpeting, drapes over the bed, even those lights that you clap to make them come on. "Nothing but the high life for me," he sighed aloud, his voice echoing in all the dead space.

---

"Nothing but the low life for me, now," Ros groaned. She was standing in the unemployment line at the Unwagea, the out of work planet. She had been waiting for quite some time. It seemed like a day. If anything, it probably was. Finally, the Irken in front of her fell down a hatch, where he would be transferred to the underground and taken to their new line of work. Whatever that would be. In most cases, it was something horrible or incredibly boring, because those were the jobs most open. She walked up to the booth to a rather ugly looking woman.

"Number?" she asked, her voice dry and throaty.

"K-13-1086," she replied numbly. Ros was getting tired of repeating that so much. The lady typed it into a computer and pressed a button on the screen. Soon, the computer beeped.

"Messenger," the lady coughed.

"Messenger? You gotta be kidding me! That's the most boring job ever!" Ros shouted.

"Get used to it," she sighed, pressing another button on the screen. Ros could feel the air locks releasing under her feet.

"I guess it could be worst," Ros sighed to herself out loud as she fell down the chute. Darkness surrounded her with lights flashing every so often. When she landed, she found herself in a chair. A computer sat in front of her on a tiny desk. Small walls surrounded her. She also noticed a cup of pencils on the desk.

"A cubicle job? Not bad…" She stood up and looked around. She could see other antennas perking up from the tops of their cubicles, too. She sat back down and got herself comfortable. She heard a faint screaming coming from over her. A guy fell on her desk. From shock, Ros fell off her chair and onto the floor.

"A cubicle job?" he asked himself out loud.

"Excuse me!" Ros shouted, getting herself up from the ground.

"Oops," he said surprisingly, turning to see the girl he just knocked over. "I guess my work space is one over, sorry about that." He loomed over the small wall and saw the empty desk next to hers.

"Don't worry about it," Ros replied warningly. It wasn't every day when a guy landed on your desk. She decided to let it slide, just this once.

"Name's Lan, what's yours?"

"Ros…" He held out it hand. Out of common decency, she shook it. Lan seemed to have gotten the hint that she didn't want him around.

"I'll just… be on my way, then," he sighed, slowly walking out of the room.

-------------------

Reviews!

**Serendipity1** – Thank you for you constructive review (and for being the first one!) I agreed with your thoughts on the caste system, and rewrote most of this chapter to make it seem… I dunno… better? I hope it came out that way… For the Miyuki-Spork incident, that was a royal blunder on my part. Many apologies... I feel like an ass for thinking Spork came before Miyuki, but I hadn't read the spoilers in a while so I guess I didn't catch it in the read-throughs. I'll just let this problem sit. It's a little too late to change that. CLOTHES! The reason Red dresses the way he does is because he can, and also why he's so frowned upon by all of the officials. Of course, he assimilates later on, but the thought of Irkens dressing the way they want doesn't seem too strange. I mean, there's all of those little prakkers you see in the first episode that are all dressed the same, but Tak has her own, dark style which I appreciated for the series (God forbid she dress in pink… shudder). I feel like I'm rambling, so let me bring this to a close. Sure, Invader Tenn and the other girls didn't dress that differently, but for creativity's sake, colorful characters make the story more interesting. Red always seemed like the one with a strange past, while Purple was just kinda… there… (even though he is my favourite character! Go Purple! We luv ya!)

Crap, I'm rambling again… Ah, well… Thanks for reviewing! I hope to see from you more!

**Maran Zelde** – Oh, wow… Right as I was writing your name this car drove by, honking like a maniac… But it was this ugly green color with a white hood and front side-paneling. I always imagined that my first car would look like that… In any of my stories involving cars, they always look just like that one. I wish I took a picture. It was pretty funny. chuckles

Oh, right, the review. Thanks for your input. I've noticed that problem earlier, myself (with the whole she did, she said, she she she!!!) but didn't know how to fix it. I'm working on repairing that, and when I do final reviews before I post the chapter, I'll be looking for those types of things and change them. As for silently and quietly… I'll take this time to say that I'm not the most creative writer to ever grace this site.I use the thesaurus provided for me from the lovely Microsoft Word. I guess I just used silently and didn't give it a second thought… Thanks for pointing that out.

It's nice to know that people actually like Ros. I just didn't want her to be one of those kinds that just kinda… show up out of no where. She has motive, a ghost, a future (albeit a sorry one) friends, and reasons for why she feels the way she feels, and why she doesn't notice it. Saying that Ros "doesn't seem too bad" made my day! Thanks for your review!

I hope others reading will review, too! Bye Bye!

-Pur


	4. Book One, Chapter Four

Hello Everyone!

Things are beginning to speed up, now, as far as the story goes. I think it's time again for another Tallest Purple history lesson!

I love movies. It's one of the reasons why I'm in both Film and Broadcasting classes at school. I enjoy it a lot. Even though I don't get enough chances to go out and see a lot of movies, I know what I like. One is the work movie. A movie so boring and dull, that it's funny (as I'm writing this, I'm thinking 'Office Space.') I like movies that take the most unlikely of situations and make them entertaining. Then there's the buddy movies. The ones with the two guys or the two girls off on a whirlwind big-city adventure (I'm thinking 'Starsky and Hutch' or something along the lines). You'll see, since I write screenplays and do storyboarding for short movies similar to these, that it… kinda reflects it the writing, I hope. Desk comedies are just funny.

I think this chapter was actually two chapters, but when I was copying and pasting I missed the break between the chapters. My chapters are usually very short, about three pages-esque or more… They rarely break the six-page barrier. I like having dramatic pauses between some sections. I thought it would have been strange having Ros just getting her job, and then in the same chapter near the end have a time jump… That's just me, though.

And I'm rambling again. Sorry about that. Enjoy the chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. I guess I kinda own Ros and any other character you know doesn't come up in the series…

**Ros Story--**

Three hundred years had passed. Ros sat at her desk. Nothing had changed except her face expression. She seemed calmer now, and less stressed. There was a cup in her hand with some gooey blue substance. In her other hand there was a clipboard with a list of deliveries for the day.

"Ros! ROS!" a voice called from down the hallway. Ros sighed and leaned back her head. A young male ran into her cubicle.

"Ros, I need your help!" Lan cried.

"Of course you need my help. You can use as much help as you can get." She leaned back up and looked at him, taking a swig from her drink. It sent a jolt through her body, making all drowsiness escape her body. "What is it, now?" she asked.

"I have a huge workload today. Do you think you can take on an extra trip?"

"Lan, I already have 4 deliveries. That's double of what I usually have. You'll just have to make due!" she said sternly.

"I knew you'd understand!" he said happily and dropped the package on her desk. She glared at it before picking it up and placing it on someone else's desk. They'd understand.

"Why do I put up with him," she asked herself as he ran out of the room. On his way out, Lan ran into one of his coworkers.

"What were you doing in there?" she asked.

"Ah, Pavi, hi," he said. "I was just seeing if Ros could make a delivery for me." Pavi snuck over to Ros's cubicle and looked through the entrance.

"I don't see how you can talk to her. She's such a stiff!" she whispered. "You're the only one she treats with respect around here. She even talks back to her boss." Pavi turned to Lan. "It's like she has her own legend starting around here." She sighed and walked off.

"See you later, Lan!" she said cheerfully.

"Yeah… later," he said, throaty and quite. She probably didn't even hear him. Lan shrugged and walked back into Ros's cubicle. "You heard that, didn't you?"

"Every word," Ros sighed, taking a sip of her drink and putting it down on her desk.

"And you aren't upset?" he asked.

"To be perfectly frank, I could really care less what people think about me. Just as long as they treat me with respect and truthfulness is all I ask for."

"That's good," Lan sighed.

"And that's why you make such a good friend," Ros muttered. She got up off her seat and walked out.

"Hey, can you give me a ride to my first stop? I get a rental voot there."

"More favors?" she asked. "You're already in debt as it is! You never return favors!"

"Thanks," he replied.

Ros sighed. "Sure," she said, knowing that she couldn't escape this. They walked out of a huge office building and down to Ros's cruiser. It was still the same one she had all those years ago. She started the voot and they took off. "Where does that package need to be delivered, anyways?"

"The B-56 sector."

"It's on my way to my first delivery. I'll stop there first."

"Good, because it's totally out of the way for me." The B-56 sector was somewhere on what was left of Irk. Years ago, some maniacal alien army brat blew up more than half the planet, leaving just a little shell left which was adopted as a social crater. She'd have to ask for directions when she landed, seeing as there were little or no businesses or banks there she'd hardly ever visited. After dropping Lan off on his first stop, the next stop was just a short flight away, some planet that held hotels and small businesses. The driving continued on for about an hour and stopped on the small planet. She started to walk around aimlessly until she went into a small shop. A faint ding chimed across the room as a familiar music blared from the speakers. Suggestive clothing, questionable accessories, humorous by-products… An Irken came out from behind some curtains in the back.

"Welcome the Club Q, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Club Q? I haven't been here in ages!" she sighed. "Anyways, I came to ask for directions."

"I'll give it a shot," he said.

"I need to get to the A-15 sector. Do you have any idea where that is?"

"Sure do. You keep going down this road and it dead ends into pretty big building. That's the A building. You'll have to find the 15 sector on your own."

"Alright, thanks."

"Can I help you with anything while you're here?" he asked politely. Ros looked around. The store reminded her of an outfit she shoved in the back of her closet all those years back. If only she had time to stick around longer.

"Not today, but thank you!" She walked out the store. Further down the road, she could see the building that the guy was talking about. Ros readjusted her messenger bag. Inside, there was all of her deliveries plus many other pieces of paper and whatnot. It did get quite heavy sometimes. She sighed and began her trek down the street.

---

Ros stepped through two huge glass doors that led to the humungous building at the end of the rather small street. She trampled over to the guest register pagoda.

"Excuse me," she gasped. Her heavy bag and long walk made her tired. "Can you point me to the A-15 room?"

"Sure. Go down that hallway," she sighed as if it were a big deal that Ros needed help. She pointed her thumb down the hallway behind her. Ros heaved her bag back up and walked in that direction. The first number she saw was 100. She kept her focus on the floor and continued to walk. About five minutes later, she took her messenger bag off her shoulder and rubbed her sore muscles. She looked at the door in front of her. 127.

"What?" she said out loud to herself. That couldn't be right. She decided not to waste her time lifting up her bag and putting it on and instead dragged it back to the front desk. "Excuse me, again!" Ros chimed.

"What is it now?" she asked.

"I requested the directions to the A-15 room. Where you pointed did NOT take me there," she said sternly. To keep herself from yelling at the lady, she had to grit her teeth.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you said 'Room 164.' My mistake." Ros made a low growl sound. "However, the A-15 room is a suite. And all suites are located on the top floor."

"Thank you!" Ros hissed. She marched towards the elevators.

"Sorry, but our elevators have been shut down due wire repair. You'll have to use the stairs!" she said oddly happily.

"Stairs?" she exasperatingly spat out. Ros looked up. The way the atrium was set up, all of the levels were opening to the middle. "Isn't there a hover cart that can take me to my level?"

"All of them are already checked out!" she said, smiling sickly as if taking pleasure out of her misery. Ros stared blankly at the incompetent worker. A beeping came from behind her desk and a monitor popped up. Another useless female Irken appeared on the screen. "Oh, hi Vixi!"

"Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. A few harsh customers, but nothing major, you?" Ros rolled her eyes and began to walk up the stairs. It's time like this she wished she were in the BEUS. It's probably give her the right to slaughter the worker without getting in trouble. If only…

She looked at the stairs. This was going to be a long climb, not to mention it would set her seriously behind her deliveries.

About an hour later, Ros had made it to the top. The very top floor. There were no floors above this floor and about 90 floors under her. She looked at the first door. A-1. At least she knew she was on the right story. She trampled on to the very last door tucked around the corner in the farthest hallway. She took out the parcel and a data pad. She combed back her antenna and tried to look less like she had spent the past two hours looking for this one room. She pressed a small button by the corner of the door and waited. And waited. And waited… Suddenly, a large amount of weight was relieved from her back, followed by a thud. The strap on her bag had broken and all the contents were strewn across the small hallway.

"Prak," she sighed under her breath. She knelt down and started to pick everything up. Finally, as if Spork planned it that way, the door opened.

"Can I help you?" the door opener asked. Ros lifted the data pad up to the Irken and looked up. His eyes were a light maroon. He was wearing a dark maroon shirt with black pants. He really didn't seem to have the money to get into a suite like this.

"Please sign here," she said, and continued to pick up her fallen items. The Irken signed the package and handed it back to her.

"Need help?" he asked.

"I can handle it," she muttered. It was now that she realized that it had been a really long time since she had last cleaned that blasted piece of fabric.

"You can use the help," he sighed. He bent down and helped her shove her junk back into her bag. "I bet this get heavy, doesn't it?"

"I suppose," she grumbled. "What's really hard is dragging it up 90 floors."

"You took the stairs?"

"Yeah, don't you have to, too?"

"I prefer to use the elevator."

"But the elevator is shut down today," she commented, looking back down the hallway. The other looked up, too.

"Unless if I wasn't supposed to use them about a minute ago, I don't think they are," he said. Ros gave him a blank stare.

"You're kidding." He shook his head. She contained her sanity by releasing a muffled scream.

"You looked stressed. Do you want to come inside?"

"Are you hitting on me?" she asked over her stress. "Besides, I can't. It's against the rules laid down by-"

"No, not at all, I was just wondering if maybe—"

"Hey! The show is back on!" another guy's voice hollered from inside. Ros looked at the Irken strangely.

"Perhaps I came at a bad time," she sighed, picking up her bag and walking away.

"NO! That's just my… roommate! He's cool," he shouted quickly. "So… the offer still stands, if you want to come in." Ros stopped and turned around. She thought about it. Ever since she was young she was always taught not to trust anyone, but she could really use the break.

"Okay," Ros said with a prolonged sigh. She walked into the suite. It really was nice. All of the furniture was beautiful. She saw another Irken sitting on a recliner eating some sort of cheese chips. He turned around and waved. His eyes were bright purple hue.

"Can I get you a drink?" the Irken asked.

"Sure, I guess. What's your name, anyways?" she asked groggily. The Irken glanced up at his roommate. The Irken sitting at the recliner shrugged and turned his attention back to the television.

"Names aren't important," he said quickly.

"Alright, boy, then I would like a drink," Ros replied. The Irken laughed. "Where's your restroom?"

"Down the hall and to the left!" the Irken in the recliner answered loudly.

"This suite has a hallway. I'm impressed," she sighed as she walked off. A stupid hotel room was fancier bigger than her apartment. She went through a door and found herself in a small room with a sink and tub. In the reflection of the mirror, she noticed something hanging on the door that she had walked through. She turned around. Two, freshly pressed, shining armor Almighty Tallest suits were placed nicely, gleaming on their hooks. "I don't believe it…" A small smile crept across her face. She ran out the door and found the 'boy' standing behind a counter mixing up drinks. "JAK!" she shouted. Both of the Irkens looked up at her.

"Jak?" the one watching the television asked. "Nobody's allowed to call us that. Not even us." Ros ignored him and turned to Red.

"Don't you remember me?" she asked.

"Should I?" he asked back. Ros was currently too happy to let a little comment like that worry her. Her smile got bigger as she walked behind the counter and grabbed his hand and ran out of the room with him. It was made common knowledge by Tallest Purple that Tallests usually had their memories erased of all events that weren't important to performing their duties.

"I'm going to make you remember," she said happily. She dragged him down the hallway. At this point Red was wondering why Purple wasn't backing him up. She stopped in front of the balcony where below was a drop all the way down was the atrium. She then, jumped off.

"What? Are you crazy?" Red asked. He still didn't know Ros's name. When he looked down to see if she was still falling from the 90-story drop, she was actually only five feet from the balcony. Ros was sitting on a hover cart that was sitting at that spot. The only reason that hover cart was there was that Ros had seen it before she went to the door.

"Come on," she said with a smile. Red didn't look too sure about it.

"I don't think I should. I have this huge meeting this evening and the corporate executives will have my head if I don't go," he sighed. Ros crooked her nonexistent eyebrow as if to say 'yeah, right.' Red shook his head and tried to reason with her. "Why should I go with you? I don't even know who you are!"

"You'll remember when I'm through with you." She happily patted the empty spot on the hover cart next to her. Red sighed and looked towards his room door. If he wanted to, he could just go back and lock the door, forgetting this mishap ever happened. But there was something about this girl that he felt like he needed to know.

"Fine," he grunted. He jumped off the balcony and on to the hovering contraption. It automatically started to go down. "So, tell me about yourself. You know my name, even the one I disowned. I hardly know anything about you."

"You will find everything out in due time. For now, keep an open mind, because it's obvious that you've been held hostage in that cramped Tallest suit a little too long." They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Okay, then. Well… why did you think that the elevators were out of order today?" Red asked, trying to make conversation.

"That bratty hostess down there told me," Ros replied, pointing to the Irken who was still talking to her friend on the video phone. By then they were about 20 floors from the ground.

"Why would she do that to you?" Red asked. Ros shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess I've been used to it. Messengers have never been treated with much respect, even though they have one of the most important jobs. If I would have gotten into that damn Beat Em Up Squad, I would've been treated with so much respect that the Irkens would be scared to even look at me!" As soon as she said that, the hover cart came to a screeching halt. They had already reached the bottom. Both of them hopped off and the hover cart floated back up to the 90th floor.

"It seems like you really care about being treated as an equal."

"Yeah, I do. But it's hard in a world like today. I have only two standards for people to be my friends. One, to treat me with respect, and two, to be trustworthy. So far, only my best friend Lan has measured up to those standards. Everyone else talks about me behind my back. They think I can't hear them, but I can. Irkens like Pavi and that strange hostess have already broken both."

"You grade on a harsh scale."

"I have to. In my opinion, you can't trust anyone." At this point, they were out the door and walking down the streets of the busy market. Ros walked into the Club Q store.

"Do you want me to wait outside?" Red asked.

"No, I'm doing a little bit of shopping for you. You'll need it for all the clubs we're going to tonight."

"Clubs?" Red asked in shock. Ros had already walked into the store, and Red followed in closely. "Clubs was not part of the plan!" he whined.

"Hey, you're back!" the guy behind the register said happily. "Can I help you with anything else today?"

"Yes," said Ros as she shoved Red in front of her, "Give this guy some of the best clubbing clothes you got!" The clerk looked at Red.

"Spork, he's tall," he mused. "Usually we don't carry clothes his size, but there might be some stuff in the back." He walked towards the back of the store and behind a curtain.

"I really don't feel good about this. I've never been to a club before!"

"Don't worry about it," Ros sighed. She had been to a few clubs before, but she spent most of her time at the bar since she didn't have anyone to dance with. Sometimes Lan would come with her and they would dance, but only during the fast songs. Most of the time they left when the slow songs came on because all of the drunken Irkens would start making out. The clerk came out with some clothes.

"These were all I could find," he sighed. They were a pair of baggy red pants and black shirt with a dark gray Irken symbol on it.

"We'll take it!" Ros said happily. Since she never really went shopping that often, or had much entertainment, she always had money to spend. After she bought the clothes, they walked out of the store.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing. I mean, don't you have more deliveries to do or something?" It was obvious that he really wanted to go back to his suite.

"They can wait. I'm gonna milk this for all it's worth." They approached her voot cruiser.

"How old is that thing?" asked Red.

"Old enough to still work," Ros sighed. They jumped in and Ros started her cruiser. It wouldn't start.

"I thought you said it could still work!" Red complained.

"Shut up!" Ros shouted, half playfully, half upset with her cruiser. This was going to take a little more work than she thought. Finally, after the fourth try, her cruiser engines revved up and they took off.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Red muttered looking out his window.

Reviews!

Serendipity1 – Thank you, once again, for your constructive review. I've done my best to get rid of all the 'she's' in my sentences. It's hard, with all the action going on and only one character doing everything… And thanks for giving me an example to work with (I used it while editing this chapter!)

Kitsune of Darkness – Hoorah! My fanfic is good! This feels me with all the child-like wonder that has been lost while I've been college searching… Thanks. And I have worked, maybe a little too hard, on making Ros not sparkly. I've been working on making sure her character doesn't change too bad. I mean, there is some character change that has to be thrown in to make the character not seem static and boring. Desires and wants change with each coming situation (and Ros handles a lot of serious blows. I think near the end she just ends up not caring and quits keeping her guard up all the time). Thanks for your review, and I hope you keep reading!

Keep reading and reviewing, guys! It fuels the magic! phwee


	5. Book One, Chapter Five

Hello Everyone!

Huh. I can't really think of anything to write here today. Ah, well. This chapter's kinda short, like most of them, but it's still good. It starts a mini-arc that I just love. There was something about the bar scene that I enjoyed writing so much, that I actually put thought in it and planned what would happen, rather than going in cold turkey. I hope you like it.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. I guess I kinda own Ros and any other character you know doesn't come up in the series…

Ros Story--

The small cruiser approached a small planet. It had big lights coming out that flashed around to get attention. It took about two hours to drive there, and Red was asleep. Ros was wide awake. She had been to this club planet before. The only reason why she was taking Red to this one was because the last time she was there, there were tons of Irkens dressed there the way he used to dress. There was a feeling of unease in her stomach as she remembered that fights usually started there easily, and it was far away from any Universal Police station. If a fight did break out, it would keep going until the Irkens just got tired.

"Hey," Ros said, punching Red in the side of his stomach. He snorted and shot up.

"Wha—Where am I?" he cried.

"You're with me, in my voot cruiser," Ros sighed. This Irken didn't seem much like the one she met all those years ago. He seemed more like working stiff.

"Oh, it's you," Red moaned.

"You sound really excited. You know that there's a 100 monies cover for this club?" she asked. Red was obviously showing no respect for her. That really ticked her off, but she was going to make him remember who she was if it was the last thing she did. Her cruiser landed somewhat less than gracefully in a parking spot. Red hopped out and stretched while Ros checked the engine. "Prak. Something's wrong."

"What is it now?" Red asked angrily.

"The landing gears are busted. I won't be able to get new ones for a while," she sighed, slamming the door shut to her engine compartment and kicking it.

"Are landing gears important?" Red asked, leaning against the other side of the cruiser.

"Only if you want to land without dying." Red rolled his eyes and looked up at the stars. It was stupid that he fell asleep, because now he wouldn't be able to find his way back to Irk. "Are you coming or not?" Ros asked. She was about ten steps ahead of him towards the ungodly night club.

"Not," he replied. Ros grumbled, walked back, and grabbed his hand.

"Trust me, this'll be fun. You just have to learn to cut back on being so strict!"

"Strict? You haven't seen strictness! I'm in overall charge off the Invader Boot Camp! You are the saddest disgrace of Irken scum I have yet to see! I don't even know how you know me! Prak, I don't even know your NAME! It's like… you can't take a hint, you know that? I've been wanting to go back into my suite ever since you dragged me off that balcony. I am the Almighty Tallest Red. I am in charge of you. YOU are going to take me back home this very instant!" he yelled. Red threw his arm in the air, causing Ros to be flung off and to the ground.

"Fine! I was just trying to help!"

"Help? Ros, this isn't helping! Helping would be taking me back to Irk before my extremely important meeting starts!" Red hollered. Ros stared at him. "What?"

"Repeat what you just said."

"…What?"

"No, before that!"

"I have a very important meeting to get to… That if you would only help, I could make it on time…"

"No, you idiot, you said it! You said my name! You DO remember!" She jumped up and hugged his neck. Red was left in the dust.

"What?" She started to walk in the opposite direction of the club. "Where are you going?"

"You remembered my name. Although I thought I'd dig a little deeper, I think that's good enough for now."

"That's great," Red said irritably, "but where are you going?"

"To the train," Ros stated. "We can't drive my cruiser back to Irk. Besides, the space train is faster than anything ten fold." Red nodded and sighed. They walked towards a loading dock where a train sign stood. There were usually train docks on every planet, or at least the major ones. The dock was unusually crammed for so early in the evening. Some other freaks that were probably leaving the club were there too.

"When does it get here?" he asked.

"In about twenty minutes. Why?"

"No reason…" he sighed. There was a short pause and he continued again. "When does the next one come?"

"I don't know," Ros said angrily. "Maybe about an hour after this one. Why so many questions?" Red didn't answer, but only put his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. Ros leaned on the pole waiting for the bus to come. This whole entire trip hadn't been a total waste of her time, but still wasn't being as productive as she thought. She knew Red was Jak. He had to be. She saw him on the television the night he was inducted. It was him. She looked at him as he was keeping up his constant glare on the ground. Who was she kidding? This wasn't the Jak she knew. He probably saw her name on some of the papers in her bag and remembered it there. His eyes weren't even the same color. His attitude was horrible. "Red?" Ros asked to get his attention.

"What?" he replied sternly.

"I'm sorry about this. I had no idea what I was thinking. It's just that… I know who you were. At least I'm pretty sure. But I don't think you do."

"I'm almost positive I know who I am," Red said in a monotone voice. It scared Ros a little bit. For a moment, it seemed like she was losing even more, until he looked up and smiled. His toothy smirk was borderline playful, causing Ros to wonder what had happened to make him change. He grabbed Ros's hand and ran towards the club. She tried to keep up, but Red could run faster than her.

"Red!" she cried. "What the hell is your problem?" She tripped but regained her balance. Red didn't even stumble once.

"Call me Jak!" he said happily.

"What about the train?"

"What about it? We'll just catch the next one!"

"Are you sure?" she asked. By then they had stopped running and were approaching the night club. "This seems a little unlike you."

"Don't worry about it. I've been thinking about your way of thinking, and you're right. If people don't like the way I am, though. I shouldn't let the entire Irken community stop me. Who knows, maybe I like night clubs!"

"That's more like it." She paid for the cover and they walked in. Bright lights flashed in their eyes. There were aliens dancing everywhere. On a stage near the back of the huge room there was a DJ playing with various types of music. Irkens discovered a long time ago that they could make music using different computer beeps. They used different tones and pitches. Putting them together made the perfect melody. Irkens didn't put much in music, though. However Ros always had a thing for it. She wanted to find out how to make her own using her computer, but she never had time.

"So, what do we do now that we're in?" Jak asked.

"Jak, this is a dance club. There isn't much else you can do here but dance." Ros started dancing in her own weird way. It wasn't very good at all, but she had found happiness in it. Red started to mimic her. He had never been out dancing before. It almost made Ros laugh.

"Want a drink?" he offered.

"Sure. I'd like that," she said with a smile. They marched through the crowds to a bar on the right wall. Most of the stools were empty, so they took the first ones that came up. An old Irken walked up using a raggedy cloth to wipe the glossy counter.

"What can I get you?" he asked with a nice, yet raspy voice.

"I don't know what they serve," Ros said to herself. She looked down both sides of the bar. There was a group of guys sitting in the corner. They were the only ones actually drinking there. "We'll have whatever they're having." The bartender gave them a wary look. He shook his head and walked towards a cage that had various animals in it. He reached in and took out a vicious looking one. Ros and Red cringed at the sight of it. Most of the animals that their liquors came from were a little more tame. The bartender cut the head off the little beast and drained it's fluids into two cups. He handed it to them and walked to an Irken who just sat down a few seats away. Ros took a sip. Her head turned into a blur. Ros didn't have to drink very much before she got a buzz. Red seemed to be drinking it without much trouble. The bartender walked past them again and to the Irkens sitting on the far left. About a minute passed before a mug flew over their heads and crashed on the opposite wall.

"What was that?" Red asked.

"Enough?" one of the male Irkens shouted who was sitting with the group.

"We'll tell you when we've had enough!" another yelled. They threw another mug that hit Ros's antenna. Red knocked both of them to the ground just in time to dodge another mug that would have hit her in the head.

"Don't start anything or I'll have the BEUS here in a matter of seconds," the bartender threatened.

"We should go," Red whispered. They got up to leave.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" one of the mean Irkens asked. Red turned around. The Irken that spoke had a gun pointed at his face. He then jumped on to a counter. "Alright! Nobody's leaving until you do everything we say!" he shouted. The people who were close by shrieked. This caused attention to the people who were out of earshot to scream later than the others. Soon, the entire club was in panic. Most were able to get out without any trouble, but those who were close to the bar were too scared to move. Soon, all of the other Irkens who were sitting at the bar walked along the outer edge of them and surrounded them with even more dangerous look projectile weapons. Ros was scared to death. She started to cry.

"You're an Almighty Tallest, Jak. Do something!" she pleaded.

"If I do something radical, there's might be a chance we get killed. It'd best to just wait this out and, if we're forced to, have a negotiation."

"YOU!" the leader shouted. "Shut up or you'll be the FIRST to go!"

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Reviews!

Serendipity1 – Your reviews always make me happy. This story, as much as I try to portray the characters as they would be in the series, doesn't take place the particular order as they did in the show (especially since this chapter was written about three years ago, some of the things that happened later in the series aren't even mentioned. This includes anything about the Resisty and some information on Tak's ship, which comes in much, much, much later.) I think this was written about the time when the Tak episode came out… So yeah… I'm not too sure about the whole year thing. I didn't do a very good job keeping track of time in the story, one thing I'm really sorry about. Red undergoes character enlightenment, as my Film teacher would have said, in that he forgets his roots (at least as far as his new memory goes) and goes back to the new equilibrium of what once was.  
In the original story, I noticed that I had written that Irkens kissed, which is one thing that I changed in the initial rewrite. I tried to take out as much human emotion as a could that would take away from the main theme of the story, which is that it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, you can still love.  
I'm glad you liked the hostess and thought she was funny. Writing bitch parts can be difficult, because in more cases I don't deal with people like this. I'm thankful that my friends and the people around me are well-natured and they like me…

Keep reading and reviewing, guys! It fuels the magic! phwee


	6. Book One, Chapter Six

Hello Everyone!

Huh. I can't really think of anything to write here today. Ah, well. This chapter's kinda short, like most of them, but it's still good. It starts a mini-arc that I just love. There was something about the bar scene that I enjoyed writing so much, that I actually put thought in it and planned what would happen, rather than going in cold turkey. I hope you like it.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. I guess I kinda own Ros and any other character you know doesn't come up in the series…

Ros Story--

The group of helpless Irkens sat on the floor by the bar. It had been at least two hours since the whole fiasco started.

"You'd think the cops would be here by now," a girl sighed. She was the same Irken who had sat down a few seats to the right of Red and Ros.

"Alright!" the leader shouted. "You're gonna get a restroom break. One of my associates will go into the room with you to make sure you aren't up to any funny business. Except… you can go into the stall by yourselves. We believe you can handle it from then on." With that, everyone was forced to go to the restroom, even if they didn't have to go. In most cases, it was too late for some aliens. They walked down a dark hallway that led to the restrooms. Ros was last in line for the girls, and she could feel the gun pressed up against her back. Ros and Red were separated into their different rooms. One of the Irkens with a gun followed the guys inside. She got very nervous when she had to go into the girl's rest room. All of them were forced into a separate stall.

"Okay," the Irken that followed them in proclaimed, "you each have five minutes starting now. Go!" Ros sat on the toilet seat. She had no idea on what to do. She never wanted this to happen. About a million thoughts were rushing through her mind at that second. Suddenly, an idea popped into her odd, rectangular prism head. It was extremely risky, but it might just work. She unlocked her stall and walked out, trying her best not to be nervous. "Hey!" the guy shouted. "What are you doing out of –" He was interrupted by Ros kicking him in the gut. That was her plan. He flew up into the air and landed on the ground with a thud. His gun dropped from his hand and spud to where Ros was. She quickly snatched the gun, and as the Irken was getting up, smashed him in the back of the head. He was out like a light. The other girls slowly got out of their stalls to see what all the noise was about.

"What the… what happened?" the girl who sat by Ros and Red asked. Most of the girls were happy and celebrating.

"Shut up!" Ros whispered urgently. The girls instantly quieted down and looked at her. She started to strip the clothes off of the evil Irken.

"What are you doing?" a different girl asked.

"I'm going to wear his jumpsuit to disguise myself," she said, putting on the red and yellow jumpsuit that seemed to be a uniform for all the Irkens with guns. Ros ripped off her clothes and the extensions that she left on her antennas the day she found out Jak was a Tallest. She zipped it up, grabbed the gun of the knocked out Irken, and aimed it at his chest. With one small tap of a button, he was dead. It was luckily a laser gun. If it were an energy blaster, it would have made so much noise that the ceiling tiles would collapse. Most of the girls shrieked at the gory site. Ros, herself, was quite repulsed at the Irken with the oozing hole in his chest. A deep green liquid came out from him and started spreading towards the door. "Let's get out of here, quick," Ros advised. The girls wasted no time getting past him and out the door. They snuck down the dark hallway until she bumped into someone.

"Eos, is that you?" a voice grunted. She make out the outline of one of the drunken Irken's body. It was too dark, or he was too phased, to know who she was.

"Eh, yeah," Ros replied with a deepened voice.

"Okay, well, Nero wants to see us. You got the girls?"

"Um, yes." She heard the Irken's footsteps along with dozens of others behind him walk off. She quickly lifted up her gun and shot the Irken in the head. Most of the guys nearly shouted until Ros ran in front of them and shushed them. "Don't worry, it's me!"

"Ros?" she heard Red ask.

"Yes, just follow me and we'll be okay." They continued to sneak down the hallway. She could see the end where the dim light of the bar let her see. Ros looked back and could see all of the anxious Irken's faces. "Red?" she asked. He walked out of the crowd.

"Yeah?" he asked back.

"This one's yours," she whispered happily. "You know more about this motives than I do." She handed him the gun. "You," she said, pointing to a panicky male Irken in the back. "You put on the suit." He looked at the green, blood stained jumpsuit that used to be yellow.

"I'm not going to put that on!" he said rather loudly. Red quickly cupped her hand over his mouth. Ros rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Look, everyone," she whispered. "This isn't going to work without everyone's full support. Now, you two," she said, pointing to two more Irkens. "You're dead."

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Go out the back exit. We have to have some reason for the blood stains on our clothes. So you're dead." The two smiled so wide that it could have crack the walls in the narrow hallway. They ran down the opposite direction and out the door.

"Trajan! Eos! Hurry up!" Nero yelled.

"Coming!" Red and Ros said together. They looked behind them to make sure that they were ready.

"Remember, we need your cooperation," Ros whispered. "We want to kill the bad guys and get out of here alive."

"That reminds me," Red said seriously, "I need to talk to you if we do make it." Ros nodded, but before she could reply, Nero shouted at them to hurry up once more. They marched into the room and saw Nero sitting on the bar drinking right from the neck of one of the liquor beasts.

"What took you so long? And what's with your jumpsuits?" he asked. Red glanced at Ros nervously.

"A couple of Irkens were causing some trouble, so we took care of them," Ros answered quickly. Nero hopped off the counter and stumbled a little. His eyes were glazed over so he couldn't see them that well.

"And how did you get so freakishly tall?" Red looked at Ros nervously again. Ros winked at him.

"How much have you been drinking?" she asked. She quickly turned to the group of Irkens, held up three fingers, and told them to bugger off. Three of them nodded and slowly backed away.

"I don't know, maybe about five of these little things," he uttered, holding up the severed monster. He was drinking the same before. The really alcoholic one.

"You drank all of that in ten minutes?" Red asked in distress. He took Ros aside. "This is serious. He's intoxicated. The poison could kill him any minute!" At that moment, Nero keeled over on his side. Ros panicked and kneeled next to him trying to find some sort of pulse. Once she did, it was really fast and strong, then weak, then there was nothing at all.

"Or seconds," she sighed. The Irkens broke out in rejoice and ran out of the club. Red and Ros were left alone except for the three bodies. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, yes, it's about how you killed those two Irkens," he began.

"Yeah, what about them?" she asked. They started to walk out the empty club.

"That was… amazing… How did you know to do that?"

"I don't know… it was just common sense to me. They were drunk, it's not like they were that powerful."

"C'mon, you've had to have had some sort of formal training."

"I've never trained at all. I mean, I went through the basic crap they teach you to register for the BEUS, but…"

"But they just teach you how to incapacitate armed assassins, they don't teach you how to attack intelligently." They walked out the building and to the parking lot. There wasn't even a cruiser there, except for Ros's. They walked in silence for a bit until they were a few yards from her cruiser. "How did you get to shooting him anyways?"

"I hit him in the back of the head after I kicked his squeedily spooch."

"You jump kicked his gut?"

"It was nothing, really. Desperate times, you know?" she said, slightly gloating. They got into the cruiser and she started it up.

"What about the landing gears?" he asked. Ros shook her head.

"Not important. When we go to the empire, we'll just beam ourselves up rather than land."

"You're taking me back home?"

"Is there somewhere else you'd rather go?"

"No, not at all," he answered bluntly. "We should head back the empire. I might be able to hide this." They took off and headed towards the stars.

"Do you know how to get back?" she asked.

"I was asleep the whole ride here. Why don't you know the way back?"

"I usually take the monorail or Lan drives me. I've never had to drive back before." She pressed a button that caused a blinking halo-simulation of the area. "Do you see the empire?" Before he could point it out, the 3-D map got distorted and faded away. Ros banged her fist against the computer, but it wouldn't work. "Did you get a glimpse?"

"I think it was that way," he said pointing towards the northwest. Ros moved that direction and placed the cruiser on autopilot. She pushed back her seat and began to rest.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm tired. It's been a rough day, and I'm going to sleep."

"You can't just sleep!"

"It's on autopilot, Jak! Cool it!"

"At least put it in hyper drive. It'll get us there faster 100 fold." He pressed a small red button in the upper corner. They were pressed up against the seats due to the acceleration.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" she asked uneasily, about to fall asleep. He slipped his chair back, too, his eyes getting drowsy.

"Whatever it was, it began with an 'E' for Empire. How off can I be?" he asked, and fell to sleep.

Ros woke up slowly. It felt like she had been asleep for ages. She checked on Red, who was still in slumber, and looked ahead. Something wasn't right. They were headed straight towards a strange planet.

"Jak! Jak, wake up!" she yelled. Red snorted and looked up.

"What's wrong?" he sighed. He slipped down on his back and closed his eyes.

"There's a planet." He nodded his head up and opened one of his eyes.

"A planet?"

"Yes. A planet."

"Why don't you just steer away from it?" Ros turned the cruiser around, but it wouldn't move.

"That's odd, the boosters are still on as strong as they can get," Ros thought. Red shifted upward and leaned over the control panel.

"Prak," he said with a monotone voice.

"What? What's wrong?"

"This stupid planet has an atmosphere. It's pulling us in!"

"But shouldn't a voot cruiser be strong enough to pull through something like this?"

"That's a series XZ Platinum and beyond. Yours is too old for that kind of force."

"Well, mister 'I know everything about voot cruisers' what on Irk are we supposed to do, then?" Ros busied herself by looking around at the controls. There had to be something on her dash that would help. She never really depended on her cruiser to take her anywhere like… whatever this planet was. "Jak, do you know…" her voice faded when she saw his hand reach onto the controls and flip a small switch. The hyper speed died down and they were dragged backward. "What did you do?"

"There was nothing we could do," he sighed. Ros started screaming as the acceleration picked up.

"I don't believe this!" she cried. "I used to be normal! I used to be average! I used to be a NOBODY! How did this happen?" She coughed and looked over at Red. He looking at her with such a serene look. He didn't even care about what was going on. It seemed like he wasn't affected by the acceleration at all. He was so peaceful.

"Ros," be began.

"What?" she sobbed.

"I love y—"

Before he could finish, they crashed into the planet's crust.

Reviews!

Serendipity1 – Your reviews always make me happy. This story, as much as I try to portray the characters as they would be in the series, doesn't take place the particular order as they did in the show (especially since this chapter was written about three years ago, some of the things that happened later in the series aren't even mentioned. This includes anything about the Resisty and some information on Tak's ship, which comes in much, much, much later.) I think this was written about the time when the Tak episode came out… So yeah… I'm not too sure about the whole year thing. I didn't do a very good job keeping track of time in the story, one thing I'm really sorry about. Red undergoes character enlightenment, as my Film teacher would have said, in that he forgets his roots (at least as far as his new memory goes) and goes back to the new equilibrium of what once was.

In the original story, I noticed that I had written that Irkens kissed, which is one thing that I changed in the initial rewrite. I tried to take out as much human emotion as a could that would take away from the main theme of the story, which is that it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, you can still love.

I'm glad you liked the hostess and thought she was funny. Writing bitch parts can be difficult, because in more cases I don't deal with people like this. I'm thankful that my friends and the people around me are well-natured and they like me…

Keep reading and reviewing, guys! It fuels the magic! phwee


	7. Book One, Chapter Seven

Hello Everyone!

Hmm… I guess this is what you call the chapter where the plot thickens. You get to meet Dib, who's grown evil over the years, and what happens after the crash. This is a very iffy chapter, at least as far as the 'choppiness' goes. I just have a really hard time writing when it's just one character having to go through a series of actions. I've finished editing the story through the next book, but I'm sure there's plenty of things that still needs to be changed… You guys keep me posted on those things!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. I guess I kinda own Ros and any other character you know doesn't come up in the series…

Ros Story--

Ros slowly opened her eyes. Everything was white. The purest white you'd probably ever see in your entire life. She slowly lifted her body up with her arms and sat on the floor. Her skin was sore all over. She looked at the ground. It was stained with her green Irken blood. She gasped at the sight of it. If there was blood on the ground, and she felt pain, then it must have meant that she was still alive. Her eyesight was overwhelmingly poor. She could only see blurry figures. When she turned her head, she saw a purple blotch. It was her cruiser. She tried to get up, but the pain was too much to bear, and she fell again. Ros looked up and saw a black figure come towards her. Before she could make much since of it all, her eyes rolled up and she fainted.

---

Ros awoke again, except this time, she was in a different setting. A putrid smell filled the room. It was horrible. She felt like she was lying on the floor, so she got up and felt around. Everything around her was more of a dark blue instead of white, and her skin didn't ache anymore.

"It's about time you woke up," a voice said. It sounded like a male, but it wasn't Red. It sounded like he was eating something. Ros ran towards the voice, but smashed into metal bars.

"What the--?" she cried.

"You're not going to get out of there very easily," he commented.

"Who are you?" she asked. She sat back down on the floor and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them, everything was a lot clearer. The figure who spoke to her was some foreign alien species. She had never seen one like it. He was sort of pale, but had thin, black strings coming out of her head. He was wearing a black jacket, black pants, and a bluish shirt. The bowl of food he was eating from was placed on his bed. He dusted himself off and looked at the feminine Irken.

"I'm… You know what? My name isn't important. What's more important is what I do with creatures like you."

"Creatures like me?"

"You see, you're the first girl I've ever caught…"

"Caught? What exactly do you do?" The kid started to laugh ominously.

"Take a peek," she sighed. He walked to a table that had a bed sheet over it. He threw it up revealed what was under it.

It was Red. Red was lying on a table. He was extremely soft. His stomach was gutted open. His insides were all gone and his stomach was nothing but a hollow void. There were various jars sitting behind him.

"You see, I always thought that the Irkens really were a superior species. With their advanced technology and all, so I always wanted to get to know you more, inside and out." He walked to jars and handled them without much care. "I thought that there would be something more to them. All I got out of it was a 'squeedily spooch,' an eyeball, and a brain. A small one, too, considering the size of human ones."

"You're a monster!" she yelled.

"Dib, keep it down!" a girl shouted from outside the room. The supposed 'Dib' character sighed and rolled his eyes. "And school starts in ten minutes! Hurry or I'll leave without you!"

"Yes, Gaz!" he yelled back. He turned his attention back to Ros. "Anyways, where were we? Oh yes, before I kill you, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Never!" Ros yelled.

"Too bad. So, do all Irkens have names?" Ros answered with a wicked glare. All of this was happening so fast. Red was dead. A human named Dib was keeping her captive. She was trapped on some foreign planet. There was nothing left to say.

"Yes," she sighed.

"Some examples, please?" he pushed on.

"I don't know… Lan, Jak, Pavi…"

"So, a lot of names are taken from names from the human species."

"We didn't even know your stupid species existed, until NOW at least."

"Then why did you send Zim here?"

"Who?"

"ZIM!" the human was becoming impatient and enraged. "The stupid little Irken I've been trailing for the past five years of my life!" Ros thought hard. She had never heard of anyone named Zim before, although it sounded familiar. "Well?"

"I remember!" she said with surprise. "I remember a long time ago there was this Irken that destroyed so much of Irk that he was exiled to Foodcourtia."

"If he's supposed to be in Foodcourtia, then what is he doing here?" Dib asked.

"Dib, I'm walking out the door!" Gaz shouted from downstairs. Dib sighed and rolled his eyes once more.

"Coming!" he yelled at the door. Dib turned his attention back to Ros. "I think I can trust you to stay until I get back."

"Where are you going?"

"To school, where I will come across Zim, but I think I'll wait and tell them the news about your arrival after I've done a few more… experiments." Dib sighed as he grabbed a bag off the floor and headed out the door. She sat down and looked at the ceiling.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Dib said, sticking his head in the room. He pressed a button on his computer screen and a video started to play. "Have a nice day!" With that, he was gone. The video had a picture of Dib's face.

"Let me get this thing straight, then you can start," it said. The screen became less crooked and more organized. Dib stepped away from it and Red was sitting on his bed. "I'm giving you three minutes."

"This is highly undignified!" Red yelled. He began to get off the bed and punch Dib, but he was hit with a small shock by Dib's taser. His PAK was covered with some sort of metal shield, so nothing could penetrate it.

"Three minutes!" Dib reminded. Red gasped.

"Ros, although I've only known you for less than a day, I feel we've known each other for an eternity. Since I don't have much time left in this universe, I must make this quick. Tell Jak that I'm dead, and don't let this psycho kid get you! I'm warning you! He WILL kill you! GET OUT NOW!" he yelled. "Et elio nec gomage!" Before he could continue, Dib hit him in the side of the head.

"Sorry about that, I don't what him to influence you to do something you'll regret. And expect some questions about that weird language when you wake up." The computer stopped playing on Dib's wicked face. Lucky for Ros, he didn't get to the part about the language, which she didn't even know. It sounded Irken enough, but she couldn't make it out. She grunted and clutched the bars on the cage.

"There has to be some way out of this thing," she sighed. "This hideous chamber isn't even protected with laser locks. What a stupid human!" She walked over to the lock that was sealing the cage. Her PAK opened and a spider leg came out. It touched the lock and sparks started to fly. In about a minute, the rusted security device fell to the floor and the door opened. "He should have been more cautious!" She laughed miserably to herself as she tried to find a way out. His room was very dank. She looked over at Red. It still pained her squeedily spooch to see him like this. This was obviously an enemy planet, and she shouldn't be caught carrying a dead alien around. "Sorry Red. I'll always remember you." She stared at him for almost a minute. Her time was cut short when she heard someone walking down the hallway. She quickly opened the window and hopped out. Professor Membrane walked into Dib's room and looked around.

"I don't remember buying him this," he said, looking at Red's body. He walked to his window. "I knew I felt a chill. He should really know better than to leave his window open during this weather." A flurry of snow fogged up his goggles. "This winter is the worst I've seen in ages. REAL SCIENCE must have a reasonable solution to get rid of it…"

----------------------------

Reviews!

Serendipity1 – Phwee! Your last review was pretty long. I had to read it a few times. I even discussed it with a friend who refuses to read my fanfics… Anyways, the point being is that, although the Irken culture… jeez, it's hard to find out how to say this… It's mostly just a story. That's it. I didn't write this to show the Irkens and how height anal they are. If you're reading this because you wanna see something about Irken society, then… you might wanna stop before you read the next few chapters, because things get… weird. This book's okay, but the next few involve the 'spiritual' aspect that's in the genre. It's one of the reasons why Red/Jak stopped trying to escape earth's pulling atmosphere. It's one of the reasons why he had to be killed by Dib, or else the whole story wouldn't be about forgiveness, acceptance, progression, and likely regression. This story is more about a girl who was told she'd be nothing, believed she'd be nothing, and became something, and making some very interesting friends along the way.

In a personal review of this chapter, I think this is about all you see from Gaz and Membrane for this this whole saga. Dib stays until the bitter end, and Zim'll be introduced in the next chapter. Things have changed since Zim found out the truth behind his 'mission.'

Keep reading and reviewing, guys! It makes me happy with happiness! (the thesaurus broke down…)


	8. Book One, Chapter Eight

Wow… Sorry for the insanely short chapter, guys. I also didn't really get a chance to proof this, so if there's a bunch of she did she did she did sentences in here, I'm truly sorry… I guess the only thing that can be said is that… well, I've been working on a major comic project for the past few months (excuse for why I did update) and I got a new computer (excuse for why it took me so long to format everything). Since it's tax season, my mom's taken the laptop that I do all my work on hostage (is currently thanking God for the USB storage port…) I haven't seen it for about a month, which means all of the stories I've been working on have been put on hold, too… It's given me some time to sort out my thoughts and give me a better idea of what I want to write, I'll grant it that, but I still miss having it around… In the midst of all the hassle, however, I've lost one of my fanfics I was working on (and I was on page fifty, almost done, too). I talked about it with a friend, and he said he'd incorporate some of my ideas that were deleted into a fic he's writing, so it's all good.

Wow. I'm rambling again… I thought I'd grown out of this by now… Silly me… On with the story!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Zim. I do own all of my original characters, though, including Ros (duh).

Ros lied on the ground. She didn't bother to check if the room was two stories high or not, and the fall hurt. The snow hurt worse. She felt for something dry, but couldn't. She decided to grab a metal trashcan lid and hold it on top of her to stop the snow from hitting the upper half of her body. The snow was at least a foot and an half deep. She trucked through it until she got so tired she wanted to collapse. A sound rang her antenna. She perked her head out of the snow and saw a group of humans yelling front of a store. The storekeeper was in front trying to calm them down.

"What on Irk is going on?" she asked herself. She couldn't get a good view from where she was, so she ran into an ally next to the store employing caution so they wouldn't see her. After peeking from around the corner, she saw a sign hanging from the overhang. "Toy Joy," it said happily.

"Toys?" Ros asked aloud. She looked at all the commotion going on.

"Okay, we're going to open the doors in three minutes! Remember, those of you with the special coupons may enter before the others!" the storekeeper shouted to the mob. The people with these special slips of paper walked to the start of the line.

"What kind of toy store is this?" Ros really wanted to get a glimpse, but as long as she was an alien, that wasn't going to happen. She looked behind her and saw some strange people without homes or much clothes sitting in the back of the ally waving happily. She smiled wryly and ran off. "I should have left later in the day!" she whined, then began to wonder whether the Invader that the evil Dib human was talking about was really on this strange planet. She guessed it had to be. There was no other way he could have found out. He also said that he was schooling with him. All she had to do was find a school. She stopped in the middle of the street. It seemed like none of the humans around noticed she was there. She put the trash can lid on the ground and looked around. The adults were trudging along on their way to work and didn't even notice her. The little kids definitely saw her, but when they told the adults, they didn't seem to believe them. "How naive are these humans?" She lost interest in her question by the sound of a loud bell ringing in the distance.

She rushed down the icy sidewalks. The streets were now empty, but just to be safe, she kept her trashcan lid in tote. While running, she tripped on a crack and slid down the frozen walkway. She could hear some humans talking and looked up. There was a chain link fence next to a huge… thing. The surface was hard and rough. It started out in one huge piece and as it went up it split into different sections. A small plaque stood next to it. It read 'Patterson Commemorative Tree.' Therefore, the thing had to be a tree. She gripped it tightly and climbed up it. From a reasonably safe branch, she could see a view of what appeared to be a courtyard. It was littered with humans. Young ones, about the age of the Dib human. Most of them were standing still. Some were throwing an oval shaped ball. She looked down at the humans that she heard talking before.

"I can hardly wait until the day is over!" she sighed.

"These finals are going to slaughter my GPA," a guy said nervously.

"At least we get the second half of the day off! Then after that it's nothing but winter break to spend together!" the girl reassured, pressing her lips onto the guy's cheek. Ros studied the action like a hawk. Why did she do that? They started to walk toward a door directly across the yard. Everyone started to pack into the large building. Two other kids were running around. Ros didn't spend much attention on them, but more on how humans were tolerate to the snow. She suddenly heard a screech of pain. A kid was standing over another who was apparently shoved in the ground. After focusing on them for a few seconds, she realized that the human standing was the Dib.

"Get up, Zim!" he shouted.

"Zim?" she asked herself. The human-dressed Irken feebly stood up, shaking from the pain of the snow. Dib pushed him down again.

"Get up!" he repeated. Zim struggled to get up again. Ros couldn't believe what was going on. After all, she heard of how dangerous and suicidal he was, and now a stupid human was pushing him around. He stood up again. Suddenly, the support under Ros caved in and the snow collapsed around her as she plummeted to the ground. Both of the boys looked at the freshly fallen snow.

"You! Kids! Get back inside!" a hall monitor shouted. Dib rolled his eyes and marched in. Zim looked at the pile a little longer. It started to move a little bit. Zim's eyes widened. Ros grumbled as she got out of the snow. The snow stung and some got in her eye. Once her focus returned, she looked up and saw Zim glaring over her. She quivered and started using the snow as a shield.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Reviews!

I think I got only one review from the last chapter, but it was from a friend that I see everyday at school… Redigan…

Pupii signing off!


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